The Flute Player

o You Music

I started playing the flute when I was a little boy. I started playing the flute when I was a little boy. In Cambodia in the 1970s. It was a really bad time. I was a prisoner in the Khmer Rouge Labour Camp. And there was death all around me every day. I was afraid to die, so I did whatever the Khmer Rouge told me to do. They gave me a flute and made me play Communist propaganda songs for them. And they also forced me to do many terrible things.

Now I'm trying very hard to make some peace with my past. Music Are you ready? Are you ready? Yes, I'm ready. Hi, let me give you a hug. Are you ready for writing new songs?

Yes, always. How about your traditional instruments? Okay, but you're going to try again today. Okay, beside all this, the school, okay? Yeah, it's great. I know, but you're okay, you're still there. I work with Cambodian kids in law, Massachusetts. Okay. And I hope you're doing good in school, right? Yeah. Don't forget schooling. Don't forget to kick your butt. Okay. And the thing is, a topic to you writing now. I don't want to hear killing the cop one anymore. I don't want to see blood. I don't want to hear that anymore. If you do that, don't give it to me. I want peace. Okay, with social issue. With helping young people, that's what I want to hear. That's what I want to, I want to help. Is that what you do? Yeah. You've been writing this, this is rap. Can I hear it? All right, go.

As a rise from the ashes of Cambodian, I realized that we were in the new era when it got to the land of the free. Bling, bling, a couple of guys came with to me and said, when I spoke it, how I get in the roof and fly, I said, now I'm in and did the right thing like saying. I'm getting this kids to write songs about their lives. Most of my days, it's kind of hard living in the world like this. You got hardly fine. You're a first kiss. Yeah, something like that. Something like that, I've got it. That's okay. I get good, man. What do you want to do? I don't like that. Titanic. And I also want them to learn about Cambodian music. Water buffalo. Yeah. Water buffalo. I'm trying to keep our music alive because so much of our culture was destroyed. I was playing with my little brother when I first heard the sounds of war. The Americans were bombing the Cambodian countryside during their fight with Vietnam. The Cambodian communists, the Khmer Rouge, and their leader Paul Pot said that they were going to protect us.

We trusted them. But in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, life turned into a nightmare for all of us. I was a lucky one. In 1980, I was adopted by an American minister who brought me and a few other Cambodian boys to live in New Hampshire. When I got here to America, I tried to forget all about my past. But I was depressed and suicidal. I had flashbacks. I felt very guilty that I had survived and made a new life for myself, while so many other people were dead and dying. And nobody around me knew any of this.

They had no idea what was going on in my head. My adopted father said, Ahn, you've got to talk and tell your story. Let people know what happened to you and your country. My name is Ahn Chan. I was nine years old when the Khmer Rouge took over my country. I saw so much death. Life itself lost its meaning. Every day I had to kill my own heart. In order to endure, it was worse than a nightmare. All of a sudden, I became a spokesperson for Cambodia. And I realized there are many victims, not only Cambodian. I started traveling around the world, telling my story and playing the flute.

In a way, it made me feel very good. But I know that in Cambodia, our traditional music was dying out. And I wanted to do something about it. Money, money, working for money from here and sending to Cambodia. Hi, I'm feeling up, please. Would you like a regular? Where are you from originally? Lebanon. Lebanon. I'm on my way to Cambodia. Yeah, it's a long way. Stay here, my friend. I raised money for a project I started called the Cambodian Master Performers Program. I'm finding a few master musicians who survive to the killing fields.

I want to hear their stories, record their music and help them to teach the younger generation before they all die. And I hope it will be good for me to go back to face my past. Let's go, let's go.

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Let's go, let's go. Let's go, let's go. Master Checkmark is very famous in Cambodia.

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Let's go, let's go. Let's go. Let's go, let's go. Before the Khmer Rouge time, Master Gymsang was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was a professor at the School of Fine Art. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.

And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia. And he was the number one flute player in Cambodia.